1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a specialized handle which can be attached to an object to be moved. The handle includes a ball and surrounding hollow socket which is specially designed to allow free movement of the socket with respect to the ball, allowing a user who grasps the socket to direct and move an object attached to the ball at an angle that is automatically ergonomically advantageous.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many different types of handles are known in the prior art. Some handles are particularly useful for lifting and moving objects above the ground, such as a hose extending from a vacuum cleaner. Other handles may be designed for dragging an object, on a surface, such as a wheeled piece of luggage, a wheeled golf bag, or a garbage can. In each case, it is advisable to utilize a handle which is comfortable to grasp and which permits the user's hand and wrist to form a straight angle as the user controls and moves the object attached to the handle. The user moving the object will experience minimal wrist torque if the handle moves into a position that allows the user's hand and wrist to form a straight angle regardless of the direction the object is being directed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,307 to Hull et al. teaches a handle which can be adjusted through vertical and horizontal axes and then locked into the position that a user finds most comfortable. While this design is an improvement over static handles, once the handle is locked in place, it cannot adjust to minimize wrist torque as the user changes the direction in which the object is being moved unless the user unlocks the position of the handle, manually changes the position of the handle, and re-locks the handle in a new position.
Handles exist which allow the handle to adjust with limited degrees of freedom or within one or two dimensions of movement. Examples of some handles which allow adjustment with respect to the object being moved in limited planes of motion include U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,396 to Krenzel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,443 to Kazmark, Jr. et U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,533 to Comstock, U.S. Patent Application 2005/0011043 of Comstock, U.S. Patent Application 2006/0026794 of Streetman, U.S. Patent Application 2006/0260894 of Burgess et al., U.S. Patent Application 2006/0272126 of Burgess et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,223 to Miller.
The omni-directional handle claimed herein allows the user's hand to be automatically directed into an ergonomically advantageous position with respect to the object being moved as the handle moves in an infinite number of planes in response to the directional force exerted by the weight of the object. The handle can be grasped in many different positions to accommodate whatever grasp is most comfortable to the user, unlike the handle of U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,402 to Crabtree. The handle freely rotates through three hundred and sixty degrees relative to the position of the object being moved.
The omni-directional handle depends on a ball attached to the object to be moved, which ball is encapsulated by a freely moving socket to be held by the user. Many ball and socket designs are known in the prior art. However, many known ball and socket devices are purposely engineered to cause the ball to be held in a fixed position with respect to the socket rather than promoting free movement of the socket around the ball. Examples of such ball and socket designs include U.S. Pat. No. 483,311 to Remaly (for use in a plow), U.S. Pat. No. 892,105 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 1,317,903 to Whimster, U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,995 to Kalen (for use in a nuclear reactor), U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,513 to Melton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,510 to Hulterstrum, U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,686 to Hackett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,813 to Lacher, U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,871 to Chuang, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,124 to Merlo. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,213 to Day teaches a static ball joint with a friction pad designed to purposely limit the socket's range of motion.
Many ball and socket designs require a bearing mechanism between the ball and socket, which bearing necessarily inhibits motion of the socket. Examples of such designs with a bearing mechanism include U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,232 to Kozak, U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,333 to Townsend, U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,739 to Abe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,603 to Nakayama, U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,181 to Rahmede et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,477 to Fishera et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,785 to Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,060 to Peterson, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,692,179 and 6,761,499 to Bohne et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,970 to Gercke et al. Similarly, required lubricant between a ball and socket, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,160,430 to Gottshald and U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,574 to Henkel, impedes free movement of the socket relative to the ball.
A handle device is needed that can be attached to items as diverse as luggage, garbage cans, vacuum cleaners, tools, mops, brooms, and golf equipment, so that when the handle is grasped by a user, the handle automatically moves into a position that is ergonomically advantageous for the user, allowing the user to position and move the object with minimal strain on the user's wrist.